The final day of Shari's Elements Week is Metal. This one was also quite interesting - there is so much metal around but it's not something that I usually take a photograph of. So here goes:
Can anyone guess what it is?
Is it any clearer now?
31 August 2007
30 August 2007
ELEMENT - FIRE
Today's element in Shari's photo project is fire.
SKY ON FIRE - sunset over the fishing village of Crail in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. We quite often get great sunsets in Scotland - in the summer it takes so long to get dark that the sky has time to go through a full rainbow of colours, however, I think this has to be the most spectacular sky I have ever seen - the clouds were truly red and it almost looked as if the sky was on fire.
BONFIRE - conservation work with the National Trust often involves fire - removing rhododendron and other non-native species at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.
Today's element in Shari's photo project is fire.
SKY ON FIRE - sunset over the fishing village of Crail in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. We quite often get great sunsets in Scotland - in the summer it takes so long to get dark that the sky has time to go through a full rainbow of colours, however, I think this has to be the most spectacular sky I have ever seen - the clouds were truly red and it almost looked as if the sky was on fire.
BONFIRE - conservation work with the National Trust often involves fire - removing rhododendron and other non-native species at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.
29 August 2007
ELEMENTS - AIR
This is a hard one - Shari has set us a difficult task for day 3 of the Elements photo challenge AIR. I have struggled to think what to put and I am sure that there will be more creative takes on air, but here goes:
HOT AIR - hot air balloons floating majestically over Stockholm on a hot summer night
CONDENSED AIR - clouds forming from air particles full of water
MOVING AIR - the sound of the wind rustling through a corn field
EN PLEIN AIR - a summer picnic
This is a hard one - Shari has set us a difficult task for day 3 of the Elements photo challenge AIR. I have struggled to think what to put and I am sure that there will be more creative takes on air, but here goes:
HOT AIR - hot air balloons floating majestically over Stockholm on a hot summer night
CONDENSED AIR - clouds forming from air particles full of water
MOVING AIR - the sound of the wind rustling through a corn field
EN PLEIN AIR - a summer picnic
28 August 2007
ELEMENTS - EARTH
Today's element in Shari's element week is earth. Just one today - but a good one I think!
Check out some of the photos on some of these other blogs - Melanie, Dominique, Camilla, Laurie, Misty, Elizabeth Ann. I'll post a few more participants tomorrow or check out Shari's blog for a full list!
I love this photo - a farmer's field in Angus, carefully ploughed and beautiful to look at, waiting for it's crop.
Today's element in Shari's element week is earth. Just one today - but a good one I think!
Check out some of the photos on some of these other blogs - Melanie, Dominique, Camilla, Laurie, Misty, Elizabeth Ann. I'll post a few more participants tomorrow or check out Shari's blog for a full list!
I love this photo - a farmer's field in Angus, carefully ploughed and beautiful to look at, waiting for it's crop.
27 August 2007
ELEMENTS - WATER
Shari over at the Glass Doorknob is hosting a photo week this week based on elements - water, earth, fire, metal, air etc. Today, day one is Water. Living on an island, water is ever present and it provides a great opportunity for some amazing photos - whether it's the sea, a lake, a waterfall, rain......... hmm rain, there certainly has been a lot of water about this year!
Checkout some of the other participants! I will post some more tomorrow. Thanks Shari for organising the week.
Sarbear, Hannah, Meg, Julie and Sofia
Shari over at the Glass Doorknob is hosting a photo week this week based on elements - water, earth, fire, metal, air etc. Today, day one is Water. Living on an island, water is ever present and it provides a great opportunity for some amazing photos - whether it's the sea, a lake, a waterfall, rain......... hmm rain, there certainly has been a lot of water about this year!
Checkout some of the other participants! I will post some more tomorrow. Thanks Shari for organising the week.
Sarbear, Hannah, Meg, Julie and Sofia
24 August 2007
20 AND WOOLLIE
My last post reached 20 comments - first time ever!! Thank you all for your lovely comments and stopping by my blog! It is much appreciated!
In WOOLLIE this week I have finished knitting my brown bowl - it's more an urn shape than a bowl -
and it has been in the washing machine, and shrank appropriately, unfortunately the knitted leaves and berries did not felt appropriately - in fact they did it very inappropriately - came out of the washing machine looking like shrivelled up little balls and when I finally managed to straighten out all 12 of them they had hardly shrunk at all. So then, the little lightbulb went on in my head (too late as usual to have prevented me knitting 12 leaf shaped blobs) and I am going to knit a big square, felt it and then cut out leave shaped pieces - makes much more sense to me - NOW!!!
I also managed to finish the 3rd blankie - this one has a sea theme. I like it, but not as much as the other 2!
There hasn't been much WANDERING around here recently! But September is coming and that means holidays!! I am wandering to Auxerre in France for 4 nights for my friends wedding, followed by a night in Paris and then I will be back at work for a week before heading to Boulder, Colorado for 2 weeks!! I can't wait!
My last post reached 20 comments - first time ever!! Thank you all for your lovely comments and stopping by my blog! It is much appreciated!
In WOOLLIE this week I have finished knitting my brown bowl - it's more an urn shape than a bowl -
and it has been in the washing machine, and shrank appropriately, unfortunately the knitted leaves and berries did not felt appropriately - in fact they did it very inappropriately - came out of the washing machine looking like shrivelled up little balls and when I finally managed to straighten out all 12 of them they had hardly shrunk at all. So then, the little lightbulb went on in my head (too late as usual to have prevented me knitting 12 leaf shaped blobs) and I am going to knit a big square, felt it and then cut out leave shaped pieces - makes much more sense to me - NOW!!!
I also managed to finish the 3rd blankie - this one has a sea theme. I like it, but not as much as the other 2!
There hasn't been much WANDERING around here recently! But September is coming and that means holidays!! I am wandering to Auxerre in France for 4 nights for my friends wedding, followed by a night in Paris and then I will be back at work for a week before heading to Boulder, Colorado for 2 weeks!! I can't wait!
20 August 2007
WOOLLIE
My little parcel arrived at it's chosen destination - the original home of my very first happy swap in blogland! So now I can reveal what my recent WIPs have been about - hand embroidered baby blankets - snugglies, sookies whatever you want to call them - made from machine washed lambswool pre-felt, so soft and so white! Not sure how long they will stay clean in the hands of small children!
Here's a little of the detail - what's under the cloud? Raindrops of course!!
My little parcel arrived at it's chosen destination - the original home of my very first happy swap in blogland! So now I can reveal what my recent WIPs have been about - hand embroidered baby blankets - snugglies, sookies whatever you want to call them - made from machine washed lambswool pre-felt, so soft and so white! Not sure how long they will stay clean in the hands of small children!
Here's a little of the detail - what's under the cloud? Raindrops of course!!
17 August 2007
2 WOOLLIE IN A WEEK
Wow - this must be a record - 2 woollies in a week! I have completed a second bowl - using up my leftover yarn - I am sure that by the time I have felted it in the machine it will be big enough to hold a few paperclips!
Now I am onto another bowl - this one a little more sculptured. At the moment it looks more like the neck of a jumper but I swear it is going to be a bowl......one day!
Wow - this must be a record - 2 woollies in a week! I have completed a second bowl - using up my leftover yarn - I am sure that by the time I have felted it in the machine it will be big enough to hold a few paperclips!
Now I am onto another bowl - this one a little more sculptured. At the moment it looks more like the neck of a jumper but I swear it is going to be a bowl......one day!
12 August 2007
WOOLLIE
I bought some new woollie this weekend and in another exciting crafting development a parcel of fabric arrived from Z & S Fabrics. The fabric was purchased following a number of recommendations on the blogs of others and mention of a sale. I would recommend the company highly, the service was swift and the prices good and the postage a set $11 for 4.5 yards of fabric - which cost me a total of $23. I love the Heather Ross fabric for , Freespirit - the patterns are quirky and fit perfectly with my personality (not quite grown up) and the fabric feels fantastic. More in a later post of what I plan for the fabric.
Saturday was knitting group at Twist Fibre Craft over in Newburgh. As usual the event was enjoyed by all and much shopping was done - Laura and Peter do so much to inspire that it is hard to leave without a purchase.
This time I bought some Lopi roving so that I could make a felt bowl from Nicky Epstein's new book "Knitting never felt better" and 3 balls of Rowan Harris Tweed DK yarn that was found in the sale box......there was so much yarn in the sale box that at one point someone recommended tying a rope round my foot so that I could be pulled out once I had dived in.......
With the yarn from the sale box I want to experiment a little with the shibori style techniques in the book by making something simple like a scarf.
I bought some new woollie this weekend and in another exciting crafting development a parcel of fabric arrived from Z & S Fabrics. The fabric was purchased following a number of recommendations on the blogs of others and mention of a sale. I would recommend the company highly, the service was swift and the prices good and the postage a set $11 for 4.5 yards of fabric - which cost me a total of $23. I love the Heather Ross fabric for , Freespirit - the patterns are quirky and fit perfectly with my personality (not quite grown up) and the fabric feels fantastic. More in a later post of what I plan for the fabric.
Saturday was knitting group at Twist Fibre Craft over in Newburgh. As usual the event was enjoyed by all and much shopping was done - Laura and Peter do so much to inspire that it is hard to leave without a purchase.
This time I bought some Lopi roving so that I could make a felt bowl from Nicky Epstein's new book "Knitting never felt better" and 3 balls of Rowan Harris Tweed DK yarn that was found in the sale box......there was so much yarn in the sale box that at one point someone recommended tying a rope round my foot so that I could be pulled out once I had dived in.......
With the yarn from the sale box I want to experiment a little with the shibori style techniques in the book by making something simple like a scarf.
WANDERINGS - THE POLKA DOT HARBOUR
Today I wandered to the Pittenweem Arts Festival - this annual event, now in its 25th year, turns a small fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife into an massive art gallery - houses, churches and the town hall all become art galleries and events and outdoor installations abound. It lasts for a week and today was the last day so I had to head over. My friend Allyson had visited last weekend and told me I had to go and see the knitted dots floating in the harbour and I am so glad that I did.
The artist, Margaret Bathgate, has looked at bringing knitting into the world of fishing, inspired I imagine, by the piles of fishing nets. With enormous needles, 39cm in diameter, she knits large nets and circles. The circles floating on water look like large jellyfish and the nets thrown over a boat could easily be mistaken for a colourful fishing net. Her installation, venue 54, the harbour, was of 25 large knitted dots anchored in the harbour - creating the Polka Dot Harbour.
Another artist Joachim Romer, who uses flotsam and jetsam to construct art installations had created a picture of the harbour (displayed on the harbour) of pieces of rubbish that he had collected from beaches. From a distance, the picture looks like a painting of the harbour but as you approach you start to see that it is made up of thousands of pieces of coloured plastic, including cigarette lighters, buoys, flip-flops etc and you start to lose sight of the picture and focus on the array of plastic making up this giant mosaic.
Art seems to fit seemlessly into the village, one of the most pictureseque and demanding to be photographed villages in Scotland. Once again I am reminded why I love living so close to the sea and all that it means....
Today I wandered to the Pittenweem Arts Festival - this annual event, now in its 25th year, turns a small fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife into an massive art gallery - houses, churches and the town hall all become art galleries and events and outdoor installations abound. It lasts for a week and today was the last day so I had to head over. My friend Allyson had visited last weekend and told me I had to go and see the knitted dots floating in the harbour and I am so glad that I did.
The artist, Margaret Bathgate, has looked at bringing knitting into the world of fishing, inspired I imagine, by the piles of fishing nets. With enormous needles, 39cm in diameter, she knits large nets and circles. The circles floating on water look like large jellyfish and the nets thrown over a boat could easily be mistaken for a colourful fishing net. Her installation, venue 54, the harbour, was of 25 large knitted dots anchored in the harbour - creating the Polka Dot Harbour.
Another artist Joachim Romer, who uses flotsam and jetsam to construct art installations had created a picture of the harbour (displayed on the harbour) of pieces of rubbish that he had collected from beaches. From a distance, the picture looks like a painting of the harbour but as you approach you start to see that it is made up of thousands of pieces of coloured plastic, including cigarette lighters, buoys, flip-flops etc and you start to lose sight of the picture and focus on the array of plastic making up this giant mosaic.
Art seems to fit seemlessly into the village, one of the most pictureseque and demanding to be photographed villages in Scotland. Once again I am reminded why I love living so close to the sea and all that it means....
09 August 2007
WOOLLIE
I finally managed to knit again! No, I haven't injured or lost a hand or anything serious, I was just going through a knitting slump! Nothing inspired me, I hated knitting what I was knitting and felt sad at the loss of a relaxation tool. Perhaps I just needed a good reason to knit. I had been enjoying the embroidery and it continues but on Monday evening I started knitting - just a small thing - I decided to knit a bowl - knit and then felt a bowl. I used a pattern from One Skein and it did just look like a big hat when I had finished (and guess who forgot to take a photo of it pre-felting). Last night I stuck it in the washing machine at 60 with a big towel and an hour later I had a bowl! It was pretty impressive. It never fails to surprise me what a trip through the washing machine can do!!
I finally managed to knit again! No, I haven't injured or lost a hand or anything serious, I was just going through a knitting slump! Nothing inspired me, I hated knitting what I was knitting and felt sad at the loss of a relaxation tool. Perhaps I just needed a good reason to knit. I had been enjoying the embroidery and it continues but on Monday evening I started knitting - just a small thing - I decided to knit a bowl - knit and then felt a bowl. I used a pattern from One Skein and it did just look like a big hat when I had finished (and guess who forgot to take a photo of it pre-felting). Last night I stuck it in the washing machine at 60 with a big towel and an hour later I had a bowl! It was pretty impressive. It never fails to surprise me what a trip through the washing machine can do!!
06 August 2007
WANDERINGS - THE STORY OF THE TRAVELLING JOURNALS
I am taking part in a year long project - Travelling Journals started by Ushci. We all have a month to start our journal and then it gets posted on to someone else who keeps it for a month and fills it with creative thoughts from their lifes before posting it on again! I received Olga's Journal Hedvig last week and mine is now ready to be posted off to Sia in Amsterdam.
There are people from all over the world taking part and I can't wait to get my journal back a year from now with the creative ponderings of many people decorating its' pages.
My journal is somewhat plain - it's a Moleskine Sketchbook, but it's the inside that counts!! I have completed 4 pages and hopefully that will give the others a little bit of information about me!
I've never kept a creative journal before and this is going to be an interesting learning experience for me. Whilst I know there are no rights and wrongs in keeping your own journal I am a little nervous about what is expected and will it be "creative" enough!
I am taking part in a year long project - Travelling Journals started by Ushci. We all have a month to start our journal and then it gets posted on to someone else who keeps it for a month and fills it with creative thoughts from their lifes before posting it on again! I received Olga's Journal Hedvig last week and mine is now ready to be posted off to Sia in Amsterdam.
There are people from all over the world taking part and I can't wait to get my journal back a year from now with the creative ponderings of many people decorating its' pages.
My journal is somewhat plain - it's a Moleskine Sketchbook, but it's the inside that counts!! I have completed 4 pages and hopefully that will give the others a little bit of information about me!
I've never kept a creative journal before and this is going to be an interesting learning experience for me. Whilst I know there are no rights and wrongs in keeping your own journal I am a little nervous about what is expected and will it be "creative" enough!
01 August 2007
WOOLLIE
I have been making little booties from a pattern over at Saartje's Blog. I made some adaptations having just one strap instead of 2 - very clever I thought, until I realised that I had managed to create 2 left feet!! Both the buttons being on the same side! Now do I knit another pair of booties and make them both for the right foot, or unpick them and redo the top - or I suppose I could just knit 1 more right foot and throw one of the left footed booties out!!
I made them with some beautiful alpaca that I got from Woolfest.
FAMILY WOOLLIE
My mum is also a manic knitter but generally she only knits one thing - Christmas stockings - they are truly beautiful and each one made unique by the inclusion of a baby's name at the top! Everyone we know who has a baby gets a stocking - she must has knitted hundreds over the years! My aunt in the USA made the very first stocking for my brother when he was born 40 years ago this year and my mum knitted her very first stocking for me when I was born!! I've had it every Christmas since! A true family connection!
Here is the stocking that my mum made for my friend's baby Beatriz
I have been making little booties from a pattern over at Saartje's Blog. I made some adaptations having just one strap instead of 2 - very clever I thought, until I realised that I had managed to create 2 left feet!! Both the buttons being on the same side! Now do I knit another pair of booties and make them both for the right foot, or unpick them and redo the top - or I suppose I could just knit 1 more right foot and throw one of the left footed booties out!!
I made them with some beautiful alpaca that I got from Woolfest.
FAMILY WOOLLIE
My mum is also a manic knitter but generally she only knits one thing - Christmas stockings - they are truly beautiful and each one made unique by the inclusion of a baby's name at the top! Everyone we know who has a baby gets a stocking - she must has knitted hundreds over the years! My aunt in the USA made the very first stocking for my brother when he was born 40 years ago this year and my mum knitted her very first stocking for me when I was born!! I've had it every Christmas since! A true family connection!
Here is the stocking that my mum made for my friend's baby Beatriz
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